Cat Scratch Fever
by a kiss of winter
Summary: That taunting tone of voice, the sly smile, those shining iridescent blue eyes... they were marked onto Lizzie's heart like a tattoo - and all because of that damn cat.


_**author's note:**__ I don't know what this is. I got a random idea and I became a writing maniac - enjoy._

_This story takes place as if they were to all take their pledges on Legacy Day and go through with their stories. So I guess a bit AU? IDK._

* * *

**_-xoxo-_**

**_Cat Scratch Fever_**

**_-xoxo-_**

_"Then tell me, Maria - why I see her dancing there, why her smoldering eyes still scorch my soul?_  
_I feel her, I see her, the sun caught in her raven hair is blazing in me out of all control_,  
_Like fire, hellfire - this fire in my skin, this burning desire is turning me to sin_,  
_It's not my fault!_

_Let her be mine and mine alone - hellfire, dark fire,  
Now, gypsy, it's your turn,  
Choose me - be mine or you will burn!"_

_- Hellfire, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame_

**_-xoxo-_**

Being a ruler truly was wonderful - however, being surrounded by idiots and madfolk constantly, was torture.

Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Hearts was a Queen now, no longer a Princess, and she embraced it. She definitely was not her mother's daughter, but instead of execution, she much rather preferred to capture those fools and lock them in the dungeons. Seeing them squirm in prison hurt less.

She wasn't completely heartless, after all...

And while the residents of Wonderland were not criminals deserved to be placed behind bars - it was alas her role in the story. She had to do something.

Now, the latest trial was about to begin.

"Enter," Lizzie announced as the grand doors of the throne room were knocked, thus echoing throughout the grand castle.

With that one simple word, the loyal guards made out of tin and crafted to look like cards dragged the latest victim to the Queen's wrath. However, despite the fact that it was in chains, this new prisoner seemed to refuse taking this punishment. Truthfully, they didn't deserve it, but it seemed this soul was different from the rest...

...and the young Queen of Hearts could immediately tell.

"Kitty Tabitha Cheshire, accused of madness, refusing to be arrested and questioning the rule of the Queen," one of the guards declared, as the named victim was thrown down onto the floor.

Looking over her shoulder, the young woman scowled. "Oh, excuse me," Kitty spat as she stood up, only to be pushed back down by the rough force of the soldiers. "I didn't realize that I wasn't allowed to have an opinion." She flickered her big blue eyes up to glance over Lizzie and nodded her head. "Elizabeth, 'tis a pleasure to finally see you as a Queen."

Stiffening her lip, Lizzie got up from her seat on the extravagant throne, waltzing down to become face-to-face with the new Cheshire Cat.

Placing her scepter down onto the blood red carpet, Lizzie leaned on it as she simply stared down Kitty, who was giving that usual sick, twisted smile.

"I'm surprised that you haven't escaped yet," the Queen observed. "Your magic not working as well as it used to?"

"Not quite," Kitty admitted. "You must have made a deal with a powerful wizard to make handcuffs and chains that block out my power."

"You're right - it did cost a great deal," Lizzie replied, as she began to pace around the feline female. She released a light chuckle, and bent down for their gazes to meet exactly. "But it certainly was worth it, sweetheart."

As her sly smile formed into a smirk, Kitty let out a cackle. "Every word you say is dripping with sarcasm and irony," she retorted. "I _love_ it."

Holding back the urge to smack the feline female, the Queen released a deep breath and controlled her temper.

She might've had to rule with an iron fist and no mercy, but that didn't mean she had to be ruthless.

"Take her to the dungeon," Lizzie muttered, with a wave of her hand. "Make sure to leave her in the chains. The last thing I want is to have her escape."

The guards suddenly lunged forward to launch Kitty back up to her feet, in order to drag the trickster down to the basement of the castle - where practically every truly insane member of Wonderland currently resided - but the feline female practically launched herself away.

"If I'm not allowed to have an opinion," she mused, with an arched eyebrow. "May I at least speak a few words of praise towards our Queen before I'm sent to my doom?"

"Go on," Lizzie sighed, rolling her emerald eyes in defeat.

It was the last thing she could do for this poor unfortunate soul...

With a somewhat gracious smile, Kitty stood up at her own will, giving a bow. "I appreciate it, Your Highness," she said sternly. "Now, I haven't the foggiest idea why you are imprisoning all of us, perhaps it's because you secretly hate us all or it could be the fact that you don't want to catch our Madness, but whatever it may be," She sported the smile she was famously known for, and gave a wink. "You are still as wonderful as ever. I still have a flicker of hope that I could be your sweetheart, even if it has been-"

"_Silence!_" Lizzie shrieked, turning away and glaring out the window that was placed behind her throne. "Take her away!"

"But I-" Kitty stammered, only before the guards grabbed her once more. "Elizabeth, you don't know what you're doing."

"I commanded you to be quiet," Lizzie shot back, now in full force Queen mode, but still refusing to look back. "And if you don't follow my orders, I just might pull out the guillotine."

A deafening pause happened, only before the feline female's voice was heard one last time, just before the slam of the throne doors was heard.

Kitty uttered four simple words - but they still hurt... "_What happened to you?_"

Tears brimmed the young Queen's emerald eyes, and she heaved out a sigh as she glanced out to the palace gardens.

It was just as it all should be. Guards marched all around - keeping a close watch, roses were truly red and _not_ painted, the sky was a dark gloomy grey with no sunlight, the forests of Wonderland were drab, and there was as much normal behavior as there could be in a world full of madfolk.

...Lizzie just didn't know why she wasn't completely happy.

Granted, she didn't have a King of Hearts, because after killing him with her own two bare hands, her heart was broken - even if she despised him. The ritual every Queen of Hearts had done, to rip the King's heart out of his chest. To see it, glowing a bright red, and watching him collapse in agony. It was then that she learned no innocent soul deserved to be murdered, which was she refused to execute anyone.

Besides, torture in the dungeon seemed more suitable, and yet it still helped her embrace her role.

A giggle was heard, and Lizzie nearly jumped as she noticed a smile on the wall.

"What in the name of-" She stopped short when she suddenly saw a flash of glitter, and there was Kitty, grinning mischeviously.

Lizzie froze in shock for a sudden moment, only before she was about to shout for the guards, but the cunning cat-like female placed a hand over her mouth, shushing the Queen in a chilling, sweet and seductive manner.

"Shh," Kitty crooned, letting out a light _tsk_ and a playful shake of her head. "My, my, Elizabeth, now that I get a good look at you, it seems you've changed more than I realized..."

"How did you escape?!" Lizzie hissed. "Those handcuffs were crafted by Rumpelstiltskin himself, I watched him make them! He assured me that you would have no way of - "

Suddenly, she was cut off from her rant, in a way that she certainly didn't expect.

Her lips were on Kitty's, in a soft yet passionate manner, as the sly trickster gently wrapped her arms around the Queen's neck, pulling her in close. Never breaking the kiss, the Cheshire Cat pushed Lizzie back down onto her throne, sitting on the Royal's lap, aiming to place kisses along her neck.

"Remember this?" Kitty cackled, in her usual sickly sweet tone.

Gripping the armrests of the chair, the tears sprung back to Lizzie's vision and she blinked them back.

Surprisingly, Kitty caught this, and if it weren't her curse to smile until the story ended, her expression would've been just as broken as the Queen's.

Tracing her fingers against Lizzie's cheek, the feline female released a deep sigh. "I know that this isn't you, Elizabeth," she murmured. "You don't want to capture us all for being mad, do you? After all, years ago, you would admit that you were most likely just as mad as the rest of us, even if you didn't know it yet."

"I - I..." Lizzie stammered, her breath catching in her throat as Kitty cautiously kissed her lips once more.

"I don't know why you ever took the pledge," the cat woman continued. "I don't know why any of us did."

Even after Raven Queen's famous rebellion, Milton Grimm had forced them to sign. No backing out, no second chances, no rewriting...

Choking back a breathless laugh mixed with a sob, Kitty pressed her forehead against Lizzie's - their gazes boring deep into one another's. "I remember when we would talk about rewriting this story..." Kitty murmured. "There would be no Queen of Hearts, we'd live in the White Castle, we could teach the Jabberwocky to be kind-"

"Stop." Lizzie declared, shoving Kitty away, off of the seat.

The Queen hung her head and buried her face in her hands, looking away from the character who should've been her enemy - but instead...

"Such a shame you're in mock denial, my dear," Kitty sighed. "There might be a way to change."

"I don't want to change," Lizzie muttered. "Now get out, before I do kill you."

The Cheshire Cat laughed, and not one of madness, but rather teasing. "You can't kill anyone, Elizabeth," she argued. "Not even if you really did hate me as much as you claim."

A light breathless, restricted rueful chuckle escaped the Queen and she staggered to her feet, gently leaning forward and taking Kitty's china-doll face in her hands, softly tracing the porcelain cheeks and looking deep into those endless sapphire eyes.

Lizzie released a deep breath, and shook her head. "I don't love you, or hate you," she admitted. "I sold my very feeling - all of my soul - to Rumpelstiltskin for those chains."

Suddenly, Kitty was frozen, and her face was stiff. If possible, the both of them very well knew that her expression would've twisted into hurt and shock. "Why?" she rasped.

"Because," Lizzie managed between light sobs. "I couldn't put you in prison if I loved you. I knew that if I had to lock you up, then I had to do with no heart." She literally shivered, her entire body shaking, as she gripped onto the trickster's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, kitten."

That was it.

That simple, cute little nickname from days past caused Kitty's curse to break - even for a second - as the slightest frown crossed her expression.

She blinked back a tear and shook her head. "It seems that you didn't sell all of your soul," she countered. "Because something, inside of you," She reached out and placed a hand right over where Lizzie's heart was. "A small part still feels _something_."

Giving a small shrug, the Queen removed the necklace she wore, tucked under her royal apparel, and held it out to Kitty.

It was a key.

"Go," Lizzie choked out. "Free everyone we knew - Madeline, Alistair, whoever else I was cruel to. I can't keep living like this."

"But the story -"

"Alistair has to overthrow me, as his duty as the next Alice," the Queen demanded. "Give him the damned key then. He'll do his job, my fate will be met, and Wonderland will be as it should be."

Kitty gently toyed with Lizzie's crimson and raven curls, looking deep into the emerald eyes that used to sparkle, but no longer. Now, they were full of conflicted pain. And so, gently taking the key, the Cheshire Cat leaned forward, placing one last kiss on the Queen's frozen lips, and stepped back, disappearing in a flash of glitter.

...but somehow, three little words lingered, and it broke what little remains of Lizzie's feelings remained.

"I love you even more, sweetheart." she whispered, collapsing back into her throne and finally letting her tears take over.

* * *

_**author's note:** ANGST ANGST ANGST YAYYY BWAHAHA~ X3 i love me some ridiculously dramatic romance *swoons*_

_I hope you all enjoyed :) Please let me know what you thought with a review._


End file.
